Snow
by coffeetalk
Summary: Booth and Brennan are camped out in a trailer near a crime scene when they get snowed in. What'll they do in the mean time?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The prospect of snow is something that sustains us during the hot months of summer, always promising to bring with it a momentary relief from the pressures of everyday life. As nice as this sounds, the unfortunate reality of the situation is that snow is a concept that only seems fun while the weather is warm, because despite what we'd like to believe, when it finally does come around, it always seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

As is often the case, the first snow of the year decided to arrive at the worst possible time. Booth and Brennan had just been deposited in the middle of nowhere with a small trailer, under the pretense of being closer to their isolated crime scene while they scoured the area for evidence. Because the clearing was so difficult to access, they had been unable to bring in the FBI forensics team, so the pair had been sent out alone.

Ten minutes in the trailer, and Brennan could tell that Booth was already getting bored. She had been keeping herself busy, organizing the cupboards and drawers and inventorying their supplies, while he sat slumped against the back of the small couch, foot tapping distractedly as he fiddled with a stray thread.

After a moment, Brennan turned to face him, arms crossed. "You know - you could help me clean, Booth."

He scoffed. "That's not cleaning, Bones - that's musical plates."

Brennan frowned. "... Musical plates?"

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, and he smiled at her expectantly. "Well ... you keep switching them around."

When she continued to stare at him blankly, his eyes widened in exasperation. "Come on, Bones - _musical chairs?_"

"I don't know what that means."

Booth opened his mouth, then closed it again. "You know, Bones - sometimes I think you were just _born_ this old."

Her eyebrows raised. "You're agitated."

"I don't get agitated."

She shrugged. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Booth - you get agitated when you're bored."

"Not bored, not aggitated. Look, Bones - this whole thing is gonna be a lot easier if -" his sentence trailed off as something out the window caught his attention, and his expression melted into a boyish grin. "Hey - it's snowing out!"

Brennan joined him at the window, groaning as she looked out at the fat white flakes drifting gently downwards. "This is going to compromise the crime scene, Booth."

"Yeah, but, hey -" he pulled a hat and scarf out of a nearby closet and held them out to her. "- at least we can make snow men."

Brennan rolled her eyes, smiling slightly at his excited grin before making her way towards the couch. "It's too dark to go out now anyways - if we're lucky, the snow will have melted by tomorrow morning."

Booth settled down beside her, resting the hat and scarf on the coffee table in front of them. "Yeah, well - we'll worry about that when we get to it. Until then," he reached into his back pocket, leaning towards her expectantly. "I've got cards."

Brennan looked from the pack in his hand to the snow fluttering past the rapidly darkening window, and sighed. "Maybe a couple of hands."

His grin widened. "It's on."

...

**A/N: **Okay, so I just finished a 30-chapter story, so this one should be short. Maybe a 3-shot? Anyways let me know what you think - next chapter I'm thinking they're gonna be snowed in. Feedback and ideas are amazing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the time it took Brennan to win 6 hands of Go-fish ("We're not playing poker, Booth - you're a degenerative gambler"), the sun had disappeared behind the thick wall of trees, and despite his best efforts, Booth was beginning to yawn. Brennan shot him an exasperated glance each time this happened, but it wasn't until his eyelids began to droop that she said anything.

Frowning curiously at his glazed expression, she leaned over towards him, tapping his shoulder gently to try and get his attention. When he only grunted in response, she stood with a sigh, placing the remainder of her cards on the table between them so her hands were free to rest on her hips. "Booth - you're clearly tired. Why won't you just go to bed?"

Her sudden movement seemed to temporarily shake him from his trance, but his protest was cut short by another wide yawn. "I'm not tired, Bones, okay? I'm just..."

As his mouth began to open again, Brennan turned her attention towards finding bedding that would be warm enough for the snowy night. It was at that moment that she realized what was probably the real reason for Booth's sudden adversity to sleep; as is often the case with trailers of such a modest size, it only had one bed. She didn't even need to look twice at the couch to know that it wasn't large enough for even half a regularly-sized person to sleep on, and the floorspace was too scarce to set up anything there either. As always, Brennan took refuge in logic, pulling back to rationalize the situation.

Booth was just beginning to notice through his groginess that his partner seemed to have caught on to the bed dilemma, and was just about to offer up some useless advice when she turned to him, a decided expression on her face.

"Pick a side."

He frowned, still slightly disoriented, looking from her to the small bed and back. "Uh-"

Brennan crossed her arms, tone cut with aggitation. "Come on, Booth - it's not that difficult."

After opening and closing his mouth several times in a way that made him appear strangely akin to a codfish, he realized that she wasn't going to stop frowning at him until he made a decision.

He squinted towards the bed in the half-light, voice hesitant. "Uh - the right."

After a moment, she turned back to him. "Your right or the bed's right."

He rolled his eyes, slumping back down on the couch. "I'm way too tired for this."

Her eyebrows raised. "You have to be specific."

After a moment, he exhaled. "Fine, Bones. My right."

When her shoulders slumped slightly, Booth sighed in exasperation. "What's wrong now?"

"Nothing."

"Something's bothering you." He smiled at her slowly out of the corner of his eye. "Do _you_ want the right side, Bones?"

"... No."

Booth's grin widened. "You do, don't you?"

She paused for a moment, looking guilty. "I like to be near the window."

"Ha! See? - I knew it."

Brennan shrugged. "I find the sound of wildlife soothing."

"What wildlife? It's winter - everything is, you know - under ground."

Her eyebrows raised. "Not all wildlife hibernates, Booth."

"Winter, Bones. - As in really, really cold."

"Would you like me to change my mind?"

"I'm just saying - don't come crying to me when you're all ... frost-bitten."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Glad we got that sorted out."

After a moment, Brennn began to make her way over to the bed, gathering up pillows as she did so before depositing them in a long line down the center of the matress. Booth looked at her in confusion, hastening over to snatch his own pillow from her hands before it was added to the pile.

"Woah, woah, woah - what's the deal, Bones?"

Her mouth opened as the pillow was tugged from her grasp. "I'm making a wall."

"... Out of pillows?"

Her tone didn't falter, though she looked slightly embarrassed. "...Yes."

Booth held her gaze for a moment before looking nervously down at the small bed. Swallowing hard, he looked back up at Brennan, eyes considerably wider than before. "Yeah, that actually, uh ... good idea, Bones."

He cleared his throat, reaching out to give her an awkward clap on the shoulder in a vain attempt to ease the sudden tension. She frowned in confusion at the place on her arm he had touched before looking back towards him.

"Why did you hit me?"

"What? I didn't hit you, Bones, it was a tap."

When she continued to stare at him blankly, he just tossed her a pillow to replace the one she had stuck in between them and plopped down on the left side of the bed. After a moment, she did the same, and both lay gazing up at the ceiling for several minutes before Brennan broke the silence.

"- It's so quiet."

"... Not anymore."

"My street remains fairly active after socially sanctioned hours, so I've adapted to sleeping through noise."

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to adapt right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry -" she dropped her voice to a loud, hissing whisper. "You're tired - I forgot."

"You know, you really haven't grasped the whole concept of_ whispering _yet, have you?"

"Well, you still haven't grasped the concept of Go-fish, so I'd say we're fairly even."

He looked over at her in surprise, her smug expression making him smile to himself as he rolled onto his back once again.

"Night, Bones."

She turned her head, straining to see him above the wall she had just built between them. "Goodnight, Booth."

This time, her whisper was quiet, but he wouldn't have heard it anyways - he was already asleep.

...

A/N: So I'm thinking next chapter, they're snowed in? Deffinately going to be more than a 3-shot. If there's anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll try and get it in there or you :) That's why reviews are amazinggggg.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When it comes to making walls, pillows are low on the list of effective mediums for several reasons. Booth and Brennan discovered the most obvious of which when they woke up the next morning, the wall from the night before scattered across the bed leaving Brennan curled up beside her partner, whose chin was rested gently on top of her head.

Booth was the first to wake up when a combination of early morning light and something gently tickling his face pulled him from a vague but pleasant dream. The first thing he noticed before reluctantly opening his eyes was a familiar flowery smell coming from whatever was lodged under his chin, which he soon realized was also producing the slow breathing against his chest. For a short moment, nothing about the situation felt weird - it was more as if things had just fallen into place, and Booth wriggled sideways to pull the body beside him closer.

But, as is always the case when groginess starts to lift, he began to put two and two together, and was soon presented with an alarming reality that caused him to sit up with a start, sending Brennan bouncing off his chest as he did so. This rude awakening caused her to groan in annoyance, and Booth watched in shock as she began to stir beside him, unable to move.

It wasn't until her eyes began to flutter open that the feeling returned to his limbs, and, thankful that he was able to use them again, he sprang out of bed, scuttling backwards in the vain hope that she wouldn't realize what had happened.

The first thing Brennan saw when she reluctantly opened her eyes was a frantic Booth, looking at her like a deer caught in the headlights. Unlike him, she pieced the situation together rather quickly. Mouth opening and closing wordlessly, she propelled herself upright much the same way he had done, suddenly feeling wide awake.

The thing she most wanted to do was run, but since isolated wooded areas usually don't provide anywhere to run _to_, she was content just to go outside and check to see if the snow was deep enough to have compromised her evidence. Of course, as luck would have it, the second shock that morning came when she tried to open the trailer door and found it to be jammed.

Desperate, she turned to Booth, mouth still opened slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, he wordlessly joined her by the door, attempting to force it open. Brennan winced as she watched her partner fling his weight against the obstacle, creating a small opening near the top and causing the door to bend dangerously somewhere around the middle, but otherwise not helping their situation.

After several more vain attempts, Booth turned to her, breathing hard. She continued to wince as she spoke, her voice reluctant.

"I think we may be snowed it."

He looked at her sarcastically. "... Ya think?"

Rolling her eyes, Brennan made her way to the other side of the trailer, straining her neck to try and look out the window. When she couldn't see anything, she turned back to Booth, who was watching her in amusement.

Her eyes widened in exasperation. "Booth - you're not being very helpful."

"Ah, you don't need me, Bones - you're doing great all by yourself."

She looked at his cocky grin, raising an eyebrow. "Sarcasm isn't going to help me figure out how high the snow is, Booth."

His face fell. "Okay, fine, but next time you need my help - try saying please."

Booth trotted across the room and took a quick peek out the window. "Yup - definitely snowed in."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Anything we haven't already figured out?"

"It's few feet at least - we're gonna be in here for a while."

She exhaled loudly, plopping down on a nearby chair. Booth did the same on the couch across from her, looking around the room absently before turning back to Brennan.

"So ... " he flashed her a mischievous grin, and she began to smile back nervously. "What do we do now?"

...

A/N: I know it was a short chapter, but I'm kinda stalling cause I'm not sure exactly where I wanna take this. Any suggestions would be great, and encouragement or criticism always make me write better too. So basically, please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Okay," Brennan sighed, placing her hands deliberately on her hips as she stepped back to admire her handiwork. Layed out of the ground in front of her were not only the contents of the trailer's drawers and cupboards in their entirety, but also those of Booth and Brennan's bags, all organized into neat piles according to their function.

"We have plenty of non-perishable food, water, blankets, and sanitary products to carry us through the rest of the week." She looked at Booth pointedly, "You packed more than enough clean underwear."

Booth, who had been sitting on the coffee table in a comfortable state of innocent disinterest the entire time Brennan had been pulling apart the trailer, suddenly snapped to attention. His eyes darted from Brennan to the piles on the ground and back, until the full gravity of the situation hit him. Gaping slightly, he snatched the neatly folded boxers from their place on top of a pile of his personal belongings, (all of which he had just come to realize were displayed unabashedly out in the open), before shoving them clumsily under a nearby chair.

"I - Bones!"

"What?" She gave him a blank frown.

"You can't just - those are my -" he blinked at her. "You know, someone really needs to explain the whole concept of boundaries to you."

"I don't see what you're so worked up about, Booth - it's normal to bring underwear on trips like this." She raised an eyebrow, smiling out of the corner of her mouth. "In fact, it would have been considerably more embarrassing if you had_n't _packed any underwear."

Booth sputtered. As he could think of no response that seemed even remotely adequate, he continued to stare at his partner with wide-eyed incredulousness until he caught a glimpse of her own pile out of the corner of his eye.

After assessing it for a moment, he turned back to Brennan, face lit up with a cocky half-smile. "Your pile's looking a little thin there, Bones. Missing something?"

Her eyes wandered momentarily to her own considerably more modestly represented pile, before shrugging slightly. "I already knew I'd packed clean underwear, so there was no need for me to waste time adding it."

"So you're telling me that that's the only reason you didn't stick your - you know ..." Booth looked at her uncomfortably.

"- Underwear?"

"- _undergarments - _on display is because you already knew they were there?"

"Yes."

"So it had _nothing_to do with embarrassment."

She shook her head, and when he just continued to stare at her in disbelief, she gestured towards her own suitcase. "Would it make you feel better if your dumped my suitcase out on the floor, Booth?"

He rolled his eyes. "What are we - eight?"

She just frowned at him. "I'm thirty-two."

Booth stared at her for a moment before sighing in defeat. "That's great, Bones. Now whatd'ya say we get all this stuff back where it belongs, alright?"

She was still frowning as he propelled her towards the kitchen, stooping to pick up scattered items off the ground with his free hand as he went.

Before they stepped over the linoleum threshold into the kitchen, he stole one last glance at her partially-packed suitcase, swallowing hard. Then, clearing his throat distractedly, he turned to face Brennan, (who was looking forlornly out the window), and tapped her shoulder, suddenly excited.

"Hey - Bones." When she turned to look at him, he flashed her a signature grin. "I've got an idea for dinner."

...


End file.
